This Hackaday.io project page documents a DIY Arduino-based FM radio design, demonstrating technical creativity and knowledge sharing aligned with Articles 19 and 27 (freedom of expression and participation in cultural life). The platform structurally enables peer collaboration and creative attribution, though account gating partially restricts universal access to interactive features. Overall, the content advocates for maker culture and open technical knowledge dissemination.
Didn’t RPI have In built capability to do that?
I built a cheap streaming system, back when bluetooth wasn’t so main stream to make “piplay” for my stereo in car with Pi2.
Would anyone be able to recommend the most beginner friendly “assume (almost) no knowledge” of how to implement an fm radio using 1) a dsp “pipeline” 2) analog electronics?
If I wanted to understand every single step of the dsp process and what each individual piece of electronics did in “decoding” a fm signal, where should I turn to?
An old WWII veteran who built the on-board CCTV system on a ship in the Pacific once walked me through making an AM radio that worked with no battery — just the power of the radio waves, themselves. Like what today powers RFID chips.
It took him maybe ten minutes of soldering probably six or eight components he pulled out of a box of junk parts.
He grounded the thing by sticking a nail into a wall socket.
It helped that this was in a small town with only a couple of AM signals, so fine-tuning wasn't all that necessary.
In 1930-something, my grandfather built a passive radio to use on his family farmhouse without electricity. He ran a wire all the way from the basement (where he happened to get the best signal and for other reasons) all the way to his attic room, and would stay up late all night listening to the radio with his brother.
An aside, but this article made me think of this fun little story.
84MHz? ARM? Talk about over engineering. As the FM receiver IC in this project uses I2C you could do this with an AVR even, such as the 328P, as found in the Arduino Nano. The Arduino Due used here is double the price of the Nano.
The TEA5767 is a full FM broadcast receiver on a chip. So yeah, it’s really just how to wire up that chip, connect it to an audio amplifier (LM4811), etc. If you want to learn how radios work, I’d recommend many of the learning materials out there for amateur radio.
The enclosure design was interesting - not 3d printed, unfortunately, but still looks remarkably clean.
And the choice of user interface was interesting to see - a single rotary encoder reminiscent of the days of the iPod.
But, yes, definitely more about how to wire together (physically and digitally) the components of a consumer product than about how FM radio chips work or how to build your own radio from crystals, etc.
Sort of. The Raspberry Pi CPU had a configurable clock generator that could output up to about 125MHz to a GPIO line. Some people figured out that it was possible to rapidly change the configuration registers to modulate an audio signal onto a carrier frequency in the FM broadcast range. [0] So you could make a low power FM transmitter using just a Raspberry Pi and a piece of wire.
That in fact is quite overkill; probably it was what he had at hand. That FM chip can be controlled by any uC capable of bitbanging i2c, so pretty much every cheap one including small ATTiny uCs that cost one tenth of the Arduino Due.
A crystal-set radio was a LOT of people's introduction to electronics, I remember building one with my dad at age 6 or so. We were a fair distance from the station so the signal was faint, but the earphone reproduced enough to hear the news and most importantly, the station call letters.
They really are extremely simple things, and you can use the base-emitter structure in any BJT if you don't have a discrete diode around. The trick is knowing how many turns of wire to put on the inductor, but if you're stuck in a foxhole for who-knows-how-long, you have time for a lot of trial and error.
I’ve mentioned this on another sibling comment, but amateur radio is where you need to look. It took me about 6 months of casual study to go through all three license classes (tech took me like 2 weeks), and you learn quite a bit about everything you’ve mentioned in the process. More than that, you gain a license which allows you to legally experiment with this stuff.
I've heard secondhand mutterings that the amateur radio doesn't like the Baofeng radios due to stomping over other frequencies when in use. Is this just expected internet kvetching, or is there more to it than that? I am interested in learning more, but I don't feel like running in to any more hostility in my hobbies. Genuine question.
The wire from the basement was for an earth ground, he probably had another antenna wire either in the attic or going outside. Check out Galena detector radios.
Yes, my grandfather did the same thing (a bit earlier, probably late 1910s or early 20s, as he was born in 1908). He used a cyclindrical oatmeal box and wound copper around it to make a tuner. The story was immortalized in a book the Texas Governor's Committee on Again published in the 70s.
Project demonstrates participation in technical and creative culture; FM radio design represents engagement with electronics as shared cultural practice.
FW Ratio: 67%
Observable Facts
Project page showcases creator-attributed work with clear authorship: 'mircemk' is publicly identified.
Technical project represents creative and cultural participation in DIY electronics community.
Platform displays project details, component lists, and documentation, enabling cultural knowledge exchange.
Community metrics (5.2k views, 4.9k followers, 5 likes) demonstrate audience engagement with creative work.
Inferences
The project represents cultural participation in maker and electronics communities, fulfilling Article 27's right to participate in cultural life.
Platform attribution and public display of creator identity structurally support recognition of creative work.
Project embodies technical expression and information sharing; detailed documentation of DIY radio design enables knowledge dissemination.
FW Ratio: 67%
Observable Facts
Project page displays complete technical description: 'How to make a small FM Radio with oled display which all functions are controlled by a single rotary encoder.'
Page shows 'Files 3' section indicating project documentation is available for access.
Platform provides 'Public Chat' feature visible on project page, enabling community discussion.
Creator name 'mircemk' is publicly attributed to the project.
Inferences
Detailed project documentation represents active expression of technical knowledge and creative intent.
The public chat and file sharing features structurally enable free expression and information exchange, though account requirements limit universal participation.
Project demonstrates voluntary participation in a collaborative technical community; creator chose to share work publicly.
FW Ratio: 60%
Observable Facts
Project shows 'Follow project' button with 'Following' state, indicating users can voluntarily join the project community.
Page displays 'Join this project' option and 'Public Chat' feature enabling community assembly.
Creator has 4.9k followers, suggesting voluntary audience association.
Inferences
The ability to follow, join, and participate in public chat demonstrates structural support for voluntary association.
Account sign-up requirement for some interactive features (follow, like) creates a barrier to full participation, though the project itself is viewable without membership.
The mandatory sign-up requirement and account gating create structural barriers to universal access, limiting the platform's fulfillment of education and participation rights.
Project description emphasizes collaborative knowledge sharing and creative technical expression through open-source hardware design.
FW Ratio: 60%
Observable Facts
The project page displays a description: 'How to make a small FM Radio with oled display which all functions are controlled by a single rotary encoder.'
Account gating restricts full participation in platform features (following, liking, discussion) without membership; this limits structural accessibility to education.
build 1ad9551+j7zs · deployed 2026-03-02 09:09 UTC · evaluated 2026-03-02 11:31:12 UTC
Support HN HRCB
Each evaluation uses real API credits. HN HRCB runs on donations — no ads, no paywalls.
If you find it useful, please consider helping keep it running.